際際滷

際際滷Share a Scribd company logo

Overcoming Greed with Love and Mindfulness

Rick Heller
Rick Heller

Mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation can help us overcome the insatiable desire or greed that drives climate change and the economic injustice protested by the Occupy movement.

1 of 33
Overcoming Greed with Love, Mindfulness, and Neuroscience Presented by Rick Heller to Ethical Society of Boston
Occupy Spirituality Not just a refuge Part of the solution
Twin Problems Climate change Economic Injustice
Same Cause Insatiable Desire Aka GREED
Examples of Greed Wall St culture Public & Private Debt No new taxes ever (not even on carbon)
Political Change Protest Laws passed. Problem fixed. Except Interest groups capture the process.
Cultural Change Slower, but may be more enduring. Lasting change from 60s mostly cultural? Let Occupy be a cultural as well as political movement.
Food Satiates
Money Does Not
Neuroscience of Desire Wanting => Dopamine Liking => Opioids Can be Addictive!
Habituation If reward is predictable: Habit System (inner robot) takes over. Conscious sense of pleasure dwindles. Need more of substance to get the same high
American Happiness Plateau US real income doubled 1960 -> 1990 NO increase in happiness Increases in depression
Well-being plateaus at $75K Kahneman and Deaton, High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being, PNAS, 2010
Life satisfaction doesnt Plateau Life satisfaction more cognitive than emotional. Higher rank in income distribution makes people think better of themselves. Status competition found repeatedly in evolutionary biology
Status race is zero-sum game To get ahead someone must fall behind Society as a whole cant win But sure brings a lot of CO2 Inequality is painful (Spirit Level book)
Ads Reinforce Treadmill Race Applied Psychology Edward Bernays Nephew of Freud Father of Propaganda
Solutions Meet peoples basic physical needs through economic production Meet peoples psychological needs through positive psychology
Do we all need therapy? Wouldnt hurt, but People resist because of stigma Expensive
Mindfulness is Paying attention to present moment with Acceptance Friendliness Loving-kindness
Mindfulness Thwarts Habituation Restores first time feeling S ense of wonder and richness in everyday life With so much, feel less need to acquire more Less financial desire (Kirk Warren Brown)
Loving-kindness Metta toward people and things Empathy training promotes oxytocin release and generosity (Barraza and Zak, 2009)
Mindfulness Secularized To fit in medical settings To fit into public education Promotes inclusiveness Most religious/philosophical traditions have a mindfulness element that can be recovered.
Meditation vs. Mindfulness Meditation usually concentrative Mindfulness is wide-focused awareness Both focused on present w/o judgment
How does mindfulness work? Daniel Siegel, The Mindful Brain Jeff Hawkins, On Intelligence Stephen Grossberg, Adaptive Resonance Theory
Inhibits Top-Down Modulation
Focus on Present Inner voice arises by top-down on cortex. Source: How hallucinations may arise from brain mechanisms of learning, attention, and volition, Stephen Grossberg, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (2000), 6: 583-592 Sensory focus promotes bottom-up, inhibits inner voice. Silences ruminations that cause suffering
Enhances Sense of Wonder Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, U. Michigan psychologists, say natures restorative effects due to amplified sensory flow Mindfulness can amplify sensory flow, increase novelty, joy, sense of wonder in everyday life
Rachel Carson The Sense of Wonder ...becoming receptive to what lies all around you. It is learning again to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and finger tips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impressionOne way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?
Mindfulness of Status Mindfulness directly promotes emotional well-being Mindfulness can help us recognize when were caught up in status competition. Indirectly helps cognitive life satisfaction.
Policy Agenda Grow happiness, not natural resource use Reduce working hours, enjoy more free time, pollute less (Juliet Schor). First step: Election Day Holiday!
SeeingtheRoses.org
Occupy the Moment
Summary Changing our culture to one that is more loving and mindful can help us overcome the insatiable desire that drives climate change and inequality.

More Related Content

Overcoming Greed with Love and Mindfulness

  • 1. Overcoming Greed with Love, Mindfulness, and Neuroscience Presented by Rick Heller to Ethical Society of Boston
  • 2. Occupy Spirituality Not just a refuge Part of the solution
  • 3. Twin Problems Climate change Economic Injustice
  • 4. Same Cause Insatiable Desire Aka GREED
  • 5. Examples of Greed Wall St culture Public & Private Debt No new taxes ever (not even on carbon)
  • 6. Political Change Protest Laws passed. Problem fixed. Except Interest groups capture the process.
  • 7. Cultural Change Slower, but may be more enduring. Lasting change from 60s mostly cultural? Let Occupy be a cultural as well as political movement.
  • 10. Neuroscience of Desire Wanting => Dopamine Liking => Opioids Can be Addictive!
  • 11. Habituation If reward is predictable: Habit System (inner robot) takes over. Conscious sense of pleasure dwindles. Need more of substance to get the same high
  • 12. American Happiness Plateau US real income doubled 1960 -> 1990 NO increase in happiness Increases in depression
  • 13. Well-being plateaus at $75K Kahneman and Deaton, High income improves evaluation of life but not emotional well-being, PNAS, 2010
  • 14. Life satisfaction doesnt Plateau Life satisfaction more cognitive than emotional. Higher rank in income distribution makes people think better of themselves. Status competition found repeatedly in evolutionary biology
  • 15. Status race is zero-sum game To get ahead someone must fall behind Society as a whole cant win But sure brings a lot of CO2 Inequality is painful (Spirit Level book)
  • 16. Ads Reinforce Treadmill Race Applied Psychology Edward Bernays Nephew of Freud Father of Propaganda
  • 17. Solutions Meet peoples basic physical needs through economic production Meet peoples psychological needs through positive psychology
  • 18. Do we all need therapy? Wouldnt hurt, but People resist because of stigma Expensive
  • 19. Mindfulness is Paying attention to present moment with Acceptance Friendliness Loving-kindness
  • 20. Mindfulness Thwarts Habituation Restores first time feeling S ense of wonder and richness in everyday life With so much, feel less need to acquire more Less financial desire (Kirk Warren Brown)
  • 21. Loving-kindness Metta toward people and things Empathy training promotes oxytocin release and generosity (Barraza and Zak, 2009)
  • 22. Mindfulness Secularized To fit in medical settings To fit into public education Promotes inclusiveness Most religious/philosophical traditions have a mindfulness element that can be recovered.
  • 23. Meditation vs. Mindfulness Meditation usually concentrative Mindfulness is wide-focused awareness Both focused on present w/o judgment
  • 24. How does mindfulness work? Daniel Siegel, The Mindful Brain Jeff Hawkins, On Intelligence Stephen Grossberg, Adaptive Resonance Theory
  • 26. Focus on Present Inner voice arises by top-down on cortex. Source: How hallucinations may arise from brain mechanisms of learning, attention, and volition, Stephen Grossberg, Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society (2000), 6: 583-592 Sensory focus promotes bottom-up, inhibits inner voice. Silences ruminations that cause suffering
  • 27. Enhances Sense of Wonder Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, U. Michigan psychologists, say natures restorative effects due to amplified sensory flow Mindfulness can amplify sensory flow, increase novelty, joy, sense of wonder in everyday life
  • 28. Rachel Carson The Sense of Wonder ...becoming receptive to what lies all around you. It is learning again to use your eyes, ears, nostrils, and finger tips, opening up the disused channels of sensory impressionOne way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?
  • 29. Mindfulness of Status Mindfulness directly promotes emotional well-being Mindfulness can help us recognize when were caught up in status competition. Indirectly helps cognitive life satisfaction.
  • 30. Policy Agenda Grow happiness, not natural resource use Reduce working hours, enjoy more free time, pollute less (Juliet Schor). First step: Election Day Holiday!
  • 33. Summary Changing our culture to one that is more loving and mindful can help us overcome the insatiable desire that drives climate change and inequality.